This research focuses on the socio-legal response to domestic violence of the lawyers and social workers involved in Mumbai’s women’s movement. Its central aim is to understand the strategies and tactics they develop to give access to justice for women facing this type of violence. Due to the pluralist legal setting, the professionals interact with various normative systems in their everyday practice.
To understand the interactions between legal orders in the Indian context, the research starts by addressing the first order to which a woman is subject: kinship. Because domestic violence happens in a domestic setting, the roles and status she obtains within the family have an impact on her ability to access justice. In parallel, state law or formal law, through a series of reforms pushed by the women’s movement, also provides a framework for dealing with domestic violence. The civil and criminal provisions offer legal remedies for women facing this type of abuse. However, accessing justice in situations of domestic violence is complex for various reasons, such as the lengthy legal delays, the understanding of marriage and gender inside the family and society or even the preference for non-State or informal remedies in conflict resolution.
In response, a group of activists from Mumbai’s women’s movement has taken action to create a network of services geared towards abused women. Using a feminist approach, the lawyers and social workers develop strategies and tactics to give access to justice for women in situations of domestic violence. These professionals innovate constantly by implementing formal, informal and hybrid solutions. The diversity of strategies and tactics they develop illustrates not only the plurality and porosity of the law in the Indian context, but also the impact of the coexistence of different normative systems on their everyday practice.